This time the subject is Olympic boxing scoring system, something Atlas will observe first-hand as an analyst on NBC’s coverage of the games beginning later this month.

Atlas has been a critic of the current scoring system ever since it was put in place following a mini-scandal at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. When Roy Jones was somehow cheated out of a gold medal under the existing rules that year, a revised version of fight scoring was implemented.

According to Atlas, the current way is no better than the old. In fact, because the rules seem even more intrusive and even less logical, they may be worse.

“Fencing with gloves on,” is what he calls the result of the five-judge, touch-pad approach where judges hit a computer pad every time they believe a point has been scored by a fighter.

Points are accumulated by throwing punches, which sounds pretty elemental.

However, “throwing” may be too aggressive a description for what passes as a successful punch.

And therein is the real issue.

Today a soft jab is given as much weight as a hard hook; 10 ineffectual but landed jabs, therefore, equals far more than five bruising body shots.

It has led to a regrettable tactical change to the sport.

In short, there is now an appalling lack of impact.

“The fighters and trainers know the secret of scoring,” explained the Todt Hill resident the other day. “They figured it out. They all hit and run now, and fight from the outside.”

What is the bottom-line damage brought on by the new technique?

“It’s not very enticing to watch,” insists the always opinionated Atlas.

Or, he adds, very fair.

Take the case of a hard-throwing left-hander like Island light-heavyweight Marcus Browne. Browne is among the most damaging punchers among Olympians in his weight class. But his strong suit is not defense.

You could see a scenario where the tough-to-take-out Clifton resident gives an opponent a case of the wobbles with power punches to the head, but loses the fight to a multitude of soft jabs without ever being seriously challenged.

How can such a problem be fixed when boxing regulators sit down post-Olympics to tweak the system once again?

“You have to have trained people who understand boxing, to do the scoring,” Atlas says. “And they have to be incorruptible.”

That sounds like a pretty high bar for a sport where, down through the years, corruption has been as much a part of the game as liniment.

Still, Atlas is looking forward to his fourth Olympics as a broadcaster.

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” he says of the two-week stretch when he’ll cover as many as 250 fights at a couple of different venues spread out around London. “The Olympics test your ability to focus and your professionalism. But I love it.”

As soon as Atlas returns he’ll be immersing himself in preparations for the Sept. 4 golf outing at Richmond County Country Club for the Dr. Theodore Atlas Foundation, the Island charity that does so much good in his late father’s name.

“I’m no golfer,” Atlas joked. “But we’re going to have plenty of celebrities and I think we’ll have a lot of fun.”

Like all Atlas Foundation events, nothing gets accomplished without the help of Islanders who are interested in nothing more than reaching out to their neighbors. That’s always been the magic of the enterprise.

Atlas has a phone book filled with the names of people who respond when an Island family finds themselves chased from their home by a fire, or a child needs some medical care his parents can’t afford.

That’s not to mention the food pantries and boxing gyms and tutoring centers the foundation has been able to fund and operate all across the Island down through the years.

“People call us because they know our reputation for helping,” said Atlas, “and when they do call us, we try and do whatever we can for them.”

One Atlas Foundation backer is Jim Cognetta at Dana Motors. Cognetta has donated a new Ford Focus to be raffled off the day of the golf outing.